A Drum blog by manolis giannikios

Bun E. Carlos is the drummer of Cheap Trick. His minimal playing often goes unnoticed by most of us because at his time everyone went for the uber impressive stuff but him. His legacy though can be easily heard on players like Ronnie Vanucci of The Killers and others.

These two next videos are a small part from a clinic he did some time ago. He more or less proves that if you wanna be serious about your drumming, you gotta learn your history. His opening line after the intro-solo was groundbreaking for me. Enjoy!

After watching this it was clear to me that “stealing” is probably the best way to find yourown unique voice on the instrument.

We should all take a note of what he says around 4:30. He explains how he discovered the killing sonic capabalities of the hihat cymbal. I, myself had to learn that the hard way by “destroying” some recording sessions (plus numerous gigs).

The ugly truth is that no matter how gentle you are on the hihats they are still gonna sound freakin’ loud. I ll probably make another post just for that.